Fluorescence Visualizations in High-Resolution (Comparison to NDVI)

Scientists map the light emitted by Earth’s land plants. Darker green indicates regions with little or no fluorescence; lighter green and white indicates regions of high fluorescence. The northward march of fluorescence during spring in the northern hemisphere reflects thriving vegetation. Fluorescence peaks during summer in the northern hemisphere. By fall in the northern hemisphere, fewer hours of sunlight slows photosynthesis and fluorescence wanes. Photosynthesis—and thus fluorescence—is minimal during winter in the northern hemisphere. Related pages

Land plant fluorescence across North America and South America Land plant fluorescence in South Africa Land plant fluorescence across Europe and East Asia Land plant fluorescence in North America Land plant fluorescence in the UK Land plant fluorescence in Africa Solar Induced Fluorescence color bar. Range is 1 to 6 with dark gray at the low end through reds and pink to white at the high end. During photosynthesis, plants emit fluorescence – a form of light invisible to the naked eye but detectable by satellites orbiting hundreds of miles above Earth. NASA scientists established a method to turn this satellite data into global maps of the subtle phenomenon in more detail than ever before. The new maps, released in 2013, provide a 16-fold increase in spatial resolution and a 3-fold increase in temporal resolution over the first proof-of-concept maps released in 2011. This lets scientists use fluorescence to observe, for example, variation in the length of the growing season.A visualization of the phenomenon shows global land plant fluorescence data collected from 2007 to 2011, combined to depict a single average year. Gray indicates regions with little or no fluorescence; red, pink and white indicate regions of high fluorescence. Related pages